Every Sept. 24, Barcelona celebrates the city's matron saint with a week of cultural activities where residents and visitors to the city enjoy music, theater, circus and live mapping.

The festival of La Mercé is the largest and most representative celebration of the city and is a closing of the Summer season for those who are passing through.  

This year, Barcelona's biggest festival celebrated its 150th anniversary with a program that tried to decentralize the activities, and although there were greater restrictions and protocols to take care of each other, the city still commemorated the date in style. As is customary, every year, Barcelona hosts a guest country to be the center of the celebration, and this year it was Cuba. 

Since Thursday, Sept. 23, there were more than 500 activities throughout the seven districts of Barcelona, including circus shows, music, dances, workshops and fireworks. The musical performances were diverse, and although the reservations were required by organizers to avoid crowds in the streets after the concerts, thousands of young people gathered in various parts of the city to drink and dance until the wee hours of the morning.

Within the musical program of the Mercè, the show 'Vozes1' by Cuban composer and pianist José María Vitier, was a tribute to Havana and one of the concerts that closed this year's edition with a flourish. According to Icub, it brought together 200,000 spectators.

As icing on the cake, the pyro-musical show could be seen throughout the city, putting an end to a festival that has tried to transport us to "normal" to continue bringing culture to everyone. Every year, La Mercè is a can't-miss festival for both citizens and anyone passing through the city.

During it, one can feel the spirit of Barcelona.